(The Epoch Times)—Summer was once a reliable season for teenagers to pick up work experience and earn a little spending money. That rite of passage may be fading for America’s youth.
The teen hiring rate this summer is expected to reach a 78-year low, according to a May 20 report by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Using Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the firm forecasts that U.S. teens will gain 790,000 jobs in May, June, and July. This would be down from last year’s 801,000 and mark the lowest summer hiring total since the federal agency started tracking the data in 1948.
Almost 5.2 million individuals aged 16 to 19 were employed in April—the lowest since 2021—down from nearly 5.5 million last year.
“When fewer teens are working in April, the late-spring catch-up usually doesn’t close the gap. June will be the most important month to watch, but the trajectory is already pointing down,” Andy Challenger, the firm’s chief revenue officer, said in a statement.
“Last summer was the weakest summer for teen hiring we have ever recorded. What is striking is that it happened without a recession.”
A key signal of weak teen hiring this summer is that employers in the entertainment and leisure industry—amusement parks, hotels, and resorts—plan to fill 70 percent fewer positions than last year.
“That is exactly the kind of work teens depend on,” Challenger stated.
Rising energy costs and elevated inflation are also impacting small businesses that hire teenagers.
Fuel prices have accelerated because of the war in Iran, with the national average for a gallon of gasoline hovering at about $4.50 and annual inflation nearing 4 percent. Underlying inflationary pressures could also be building, weighing on the broader U.S. marketplace.
As these economic conditions tighten profit margins, employers will wait for strong consumer demand to support hiring efforts, according to Challenger.
“We predicted a quiet summer last year, and it played out even quieter than expected,“ he said. ”The dynamics that drove that slowdown—cost pressures, automation, employers waiting to see how consumer demand holds up—are all still in place, and in some cases they’ve intensified.”
For the past three years, teens participating in the labor force have struggled to find work.
April’s youth unemployment rate was 9.5 percent, up from the post-COVID-19 pandemic low of 6.6 percent in April 2023. This is also higher than the 8.3 percent jobless rate recorded in April 2019.
Beyond Inflation
It is not only renewed inflation threats that have harmed Generation Z workers. Artificial intelligence (AI) could be adding to these challenges. Many of the routine, entry‑level tasks that once defined a first job—from order taking and basic customer service to inventory checks and scheduling—are increasingly being automated or handled by AI, according to the report.
More older workers are also putting off retirement or returning to the workforce after retiring. As a result, teens are competing with experienced workers for the same part-time and seasonal job opportunities.
It also comes down to priorities.
The teen labor force participation rate in the 1970s and 1980s was about 50 percent. Today, it is below 36 percent, a consistent downward trend since the turn of the 21st century.
“This isn’t the teen workforce of the 1980s,” Challenger said.
The current crop of teens is engaged in internships, academic programs, college preparation, year-round club sports, and other interests that quickly fill their calendars during the summer months.
“For many families, the calculation around a traditional summer job has changed,” he said.
Growing Skepticism
Young Americans—those aged 15 to 34—are increasingly skeptical about the labor market.
Gallup released a report earlier this month that shows only 48 percent of young adults said it was a good time to find a job locally last year. This is firmly below their older counterparts
Meanwhile, the median rate of young individuals thinking today is a good time to find a job among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries is 51 percent.
“Young Americans’ pessimism about the job market is not unprecedented in absolute terms—they were more negative about it in the early 2010s than they are today. But dropping below older Americans in job optimism is relatively new, and the extent of the deficit is globally unique,” the polling firm stated.
“Most notably, it stands in contrast to the pattern by which younger adults still lead older adults in job optimism in most other advanced economies.“
